Welch Shines as Foxes Stars Winter Overseas
Mon 17 Oct 2022
While the Foxes plan their winter preparations both at home and abroad, several players and staff have already returned to action overseas in the past few days.
Nick Welch made a triumphant comeback to domestic action in Zimbabwe on Thursday, hitting 90 from 100 balls in a flourishing opening partnership worth 180 with Tadiwanashe Marumani.
Welch’s innings, which included ten fours and a maximum, set the platform for a 74-run victory over Southern Rocks, helping Alliance Health Eagles to their first Pro50 Championship win of the campaign.
The 24-year-old backed up that knock with a quickfire 24 (18 balls) to get the Eagles out of the traps quickly en route to an eight-wicket win over the same opposition on Saturday.
Elsewhere, T20 captain Colin Ackermann has helped Netherlands to victory in two low-scoring thrillers during their T20 World Cup group stage openers to take them to the brink of Super 12 stage qualification.
During Saturday's win over the UAE, he ran out Zawar Farid with a bullet throw from the deep cover boundary, before second top-scoring with 17 to help his side edge an opening round nail-biter.
On Tuesday morning, Ackermann showed his tactical nous by bringing mid off up into the circle during the Powerplay, getting Michael van Lingen caught there with his next delivery. The Foxes skipper was dismissed second ball with the bat, but Netherlands managed to chase 122 with three balls to spare to earn their second successive victory.
Similarly, Naveen shone during Afghanistan’s 62-run victory over Bangladesh in their penultimate warm-up fixture for the tournament. His two overs on Monday yielded just six runs, bowling Bangladesh opener Mehidy Hasan with his second delivery.
Naveen is set to feature for Afghanistan against Pakistan on Wednesday morning in his country’s final dress-rehearsal before Saturday’s Super 12 stage opener against England.
Finally, Head Coach Paul Nixon and Coach Rahim Ali both enjoyed a solid start to life with Sindh over in Pakistan. The Foxes’ boss flew over at the beginning of the month after being selected by the PCB to assume a three-month role as Sindh’s Head Coach.
The side drew with Southern Punjab, recovering from a low first innings total of 181 to finish 55 runs short of an ambitious run-chase on the final day. The fixture created a reunion with former Fox Mohammad Abbas, who took five wickets in the match.
Tuesday will see the completion of Sindh’s next Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture, with Nixon’s side on the brink of victory against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
